Karl-Anthony Towns and Joel Embiid, both multi-time All-Star bigs, will face off in the playoffs when the New York Knicks play the Philadelphia 76ers.
These two players have played in the same league for over a decade and they were bound to butt heads eventually during the heat of competition. At one point, these two stars even came to blows during the middle of a game. Will that tension carry over into the Eastern Conference semifinals?
Let’s take a look back at the history to predict the future of what may happen next between these two competitors.
What happened before Embiid and Towns fought?
While their first game was uneventful in November 2016, their rivalry began to heat up within a few months.
It was still not much of a big deal when Embiid celebrated after Towns was called for a technical foul during January 2017, their feud escalated on social media later that year.
Embiid posted the following on Instagram in December 2017:
Euro stepping our way through Minnesota and we ended up raising the cat last night #TheProcess.
Towns responded: “That caption was as trash as your picture quality.”
Embiid got the last laugh, adding: “Better quality than your defense.” He clarified that the two were on good terms (via NBC Philadelphia):
“I’m just having fun out there,” Embiid said. “Social media is a way for me to express myself. Off the court, we’re friends and stuff. On the court, I want to kick his a–, but it’s all fun.”
Embiid added, “Hopefully no one ever takes it seriously.”
Shortly after this, former Towns teammate Jimmy Butler was traded from the Timberwolves to Embiid’s 76ers.
What happened during the 2019 fight?
By this point, it wasn’t just words that Towns and Embiid were throwing around.
The two players got in an actual physical altercation in October 2019, leading to both players getting ejected and suspended.
After the altercations, Towns said he knew that everyone would want to “hype it up” but he was not interested.
However, the fighting words spilled onto social media. Embiid shared that he had some “SERIOUS REAL ESTATE” with the former No. 1 overall pick.
Towns then made fun of the Philadelphia star for saying he was “raised by lions” with pictures of the 76ers star crying before Embiid told Towns “that tough guy act ain’t cutting it” and that he owns him.
Is there still beef with KAT and Embiid?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when Towns lost his mother to the disease, Embiid offered support for Towns on social media.
By December 2021, Towns squashed his end of the beef with Embiid. In February 2022, Embiid shared more thoughts:
“We’re great,” said Embiid. “We had our moment, but it’s basketball. It’s competitive, I am extremely competitive, and we had our moment, and, obviously, a lot of stuff happened in between. Whether him losing family members, especially his mom, which I knew them very well.”
In October 2024, Towns appeared on Club Shay Shay and spoke about the relationship.
Here is what he said:
“Me and Joel talked about it. It’s just kind of funny. We just laugh about it at this point now.”
Embiid leads their all-time regular season matchups 9-5, averaging 28.0 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists against KAT. Towns averages 20.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists against Embiid.
While it is good to hear that most recently they are on good terms, anything can happen when the Knicks and 76ers face off in the postseason.
Game 1 of the series begins at 8:00 p.m. ET in New York at Madison Square Garden on May 4.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Karl Anthony-Towns vs. Joel Embiid beef: A detailed history